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Friday, 8 February 2013

I'd actually heard some buzz surrounding GHD's latest hair accessory prior to its launch, probably because for the first time, it wasn't a new pair of straighteners with new-fangled bits and bobs. The GHD Air*, GHD's newest hair accessory, then, is a hairdryer, and a new one on the market that makes some bold claims. It comes loaded with a powerful 2,100W motor, an extra-long flex cord so you can move around (if that's your game), and what GHD calls 'advanced ionic technology' that is designed to lock in moisture and keep your hair shiny and less frizzy.

GHD Air (accidental fingerprints optional)

Another look at the GHD Air hairdryer.

Now, me… I'm not so much an expert on either hair, or blowdryers. Personally, I tend to be satisfied when my hairdryer is set to blast setting and I can get my hair done and dusted in a few minutes. There's nothing more dissatisfying than owning a weak hairdryer that feels like you're being lightly breathed on by an asthmatic pensioner. My own hair type is fine and flat, but I have a fair bit of it, and it benefits from a powerful dryer that has a variable heat setting - because too hot and it goes knotty and frizzy, but too weak and I end up with horrible, flat hair.

While testing this dryer out, I was challenged to create a no-fuss, easy-assembly hair look with the dryer, so I used it to create a tousled, volumised look for fine hair - have a little look (it's like a minute long!):

After spending so many years of my teens ironing my hair straight and flat, it seems ironic now that I spend a lot of time and money doing the exact opposite.

The GHD Air, then, is a sleek little model of a hairdryer that is matte black with silver accents; it's sleek and functional and not over-done. It comes with two different nozzles - one is shorter and wider while the other is narrower and longer, and they attach really well without falling off mid-gust. The first thing I noticed about the GHD Air is that it feels incredibly light and doesn't take a strong bicep to wield. It's much less weighty than my current hairdryer, and actually kind of felt weirdly light, like when you pick up a dummy mobile phone in a phone shop. That kind of light.

Isn't it ionic... doncha think?

The ionic technology thing is the selling point for this dryer. It claims to reduce frizz and increase shine, as well as stopping static in hair. While I didn't notice a huge reduction in static… because I don't have hair that does that every often, I did notice my hair looking shinier and sleeker after every blow-dry, and it dried my hair quicker than my non-ionic dryer.

Overall, the GHD Air is a really, really good dryer. It cut drying times for me, and I noticed less frizz and more shine in my hair without feeling like I needed to do bicep curls to wield the dryer for the time needed to get my hair dry. A thing I would have loved to see is the option to have a multi-region plug, so that it would travel more easily in Europe with a two-prong option - but the plug is moulded, which seems a shame. Is the advanced ionic technology of the GHD Air unique enough to be its USP? Perhaps not, as other brands have done it for less dollah - but there's no doubt at all that GHD have done very well with their foray into other hair tools.